The Trash Men

Drawing by Kevin Peshkepia


the trash men


by Charles Bukowski

here they come
these guys
grey truck
radio playing


they are in a hurry


it’s quite exciting:
shirt open
bellies hanging out


they run out the trash bins
roll them out to the fork lift
and then the truck grinds it upward
with far too much sound . . .



they had to fill out application forms
to get these jobs
they are paying for homes and
drive late model cars


they get drunk on Saturday night


now in the Los Angeles sunshine
they run back and forth with their trash bins


all that trash goes somewhere


and they shout to each other


then they are all up in the truck
driving west toward the sea


none of them know
that I am alive


REX DISPOSAL CO.


"the trash men" by Charles Bukowski, from Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame: Selected Poems 1955-1973.
Posted over on Poetry Foundation